Vehicle-brake.



Patented Sept. I9, |899..

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wihjesszs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARION N. COLLINS, OF ACKERMAN, MISSISSIPPI.

VEHICLE-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,231, datedSeptember 19, 1899. Application filed dune 1898. Serial No. 682,235. (Nomodel.)

T0 all whom t may con/061%;

Be it known that I, MARION N. COLLINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ackerman, in the county of Choctaw and State of Mississippi,have invented a new and useful Vehicle-Brake, of which the following isa.

specification-- The invention relates to improvements in vehicle-brakes.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofvehicle-brakes and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive oneadapted to be automatically applied by the forward movement o f aVehicle on the draft-animals in descending an incline, thereby enablingboth hands of the driver to be employed in controlling the team.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brake of thischaracter adapted to opcrate directly7 on the front wheels of a vehicleand capable of being locked out of operation when it is desired to backthe vehicle.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of arunning-gear provided with an automatic brake constructed in accordancewith this invention. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan View of the same. Fig. 3is a transverse sectional view. v

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thegures ofthe drawings.

1 designates a transverse` bar or beam centrally secured to the upperfaces of the front hounds adjacent to the rear end of the tongue andextending from Vopposite sides thereof, and secured to the lower face ofthe transverse bar or beam at the end thereof are spacing-blocks 2,which are connected with the front axle by longitudinal bracing-rods 3,that strengthen and support the construction. The lower faces of thespacing-blocks 2 are located in the same plane as the lower faces of thehounds 4C and tongue 5, and they have fulcrumedl on them transversebrake-levers 6, which carry brake-shoes 7 at their outer ends forengaging the front vwheels 8. The inner ends-9 of the brake-leversarebeveled and. guided on the lower faces of the tongue and its fronthounds, and the inner arms of the levers are longer than the outer arms,and the pivot or fulcrum points may be arranged at any desired point toobtain the necessary leverage. The inner ends 9 of the brake-levers arecontiguous to each other when in direct alinement and are provided withnotches 10, through which pass a connecting-rod 11, which is provided infront and in rear of the brake-levers with laterally-disposedprojections or arms 12 and 13, ar"- ranged to engage the brake-levers,whereby the same will be oscilla-ted when the connectingrod isreciprocated. The rear arms or projections 13, which engage the rearfaces of the brake-levers, are rounded at their front faces, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, and they may be formed bya removable block suitably secured to the rear end of theconnecting-rod. These projections or arms 13, which engage thebrake-levers during the application of the brake, are much stronger thanthe front arms or lugs 12, which throw the brake-shoes off the wheels.The connecting-rod, which eX- tends forward from the inner ends of thebrake-levers, is arranged in suitable guides 14, and its front end is,connected with the lower end of a substantially vertical lever 15. Thelever 15, which is fulcrumed on an arm 16, is provided at its lower endwith an eye, which is linkedinto an eye of the front end of theconnecting-rod, and the upper end of the lever is designed to beconnected with the neck-yoke, `whereby when there is a backward strainou the same, incident to the forward movement of the vehicle on thedraft-animal, the upperarm of the lever will be swung rearward and,carry the brake-shoes into en gagemeut with the front wheel. rPhe arm16 extends forward from and forms a prolongation of the tongue and isbifurcated to receive the lever 15, which is fulcrumed at a pointbetween its center and its lower end, and the pivot or fulcrum may bearranged at any desired point to obtain the necessary leverage.

In order to lock the automatic brake out of operation when it is desiredto back the vehicle, a lever 17 is provided and is fulcrumed at a pointbetween its ends on the outer side of one of the hounds 4, as clearlyshown in Fig. l of the accompanying drawings. The upper portion ofthelever 17 forms a handle, and the lower portion is enlarged and isprovided with a notch 1S, adapted to engage the upper and front face ofthe inner portion of one of the brake-levers, whereby the sameislockedagainst forward movement.

The invention has the following advantages The brake, which is purelyautomatic in its operation, is direct in its action and engages thefront wheels of a vehicle and it leaves the hands of the driver free tocontrol the draft-animals. When the vehicle moves forward on thedraft-animals in descending a hill or other incline, the brake isautomatically applied, and the brake-levers may be looked out ofoperation when it is desired to back the vehicle.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrieing any of theadvantages of the invention.

What I claim is- The combination with a running-gear, of a transversebrake-beam mounted on the upper face of the tongue and provided at thelower faces of its ends with spacing-blocks, bracing-rods extending fromthe spacing-blocks to the front axle, the transversely-disposedbrace-levers fulcrumed between their ends on the spacing-blocks andhaving their inner ends arranged contiguous to each other and grooved toform an opening or passage, a reciprocating rod passing through theopening or passage and disposed longitudinally of the tongue, a stopmounted on the rod and 10- cated in advance of the inner ends of thelevers to move the same rearward, a block mounted on the rod in rear ofthe levers, a fastening device detachably securing the block to the rod,and means for operating the brake-levers and for locking them out ofoperation, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

MARION N. COLLINS.

Witnesses:

BEN F. ToLER, B. W. RUNNELs.

